poha recipe, how to make poha recipe | kanda poha recipe | onion poha

poha recipe with step by step photos – onion poha is easy, delicious and a popular maharashtrian breakfast recipe. i have grown up having poha for breakfast apart from idli, dosa and upma. my mom used to make poha often for breakfast or for brunch. either it used to be made with onions or potato or both with onions and potato.

poha is the maharashtrian word for flattened or beaten rice and kanda means onions. hence the term kanda poha or kanda pohe (pohe being plural of poha). other variations of this dish are:

this is a light breakfast which is easy and quick to prepare. i use both red and white poha to make kanda poha. i have updated this post with step by step pics, where the poha is made with white poha but the final pics have the poha made with red poha.

when making poha after rinsing them well, press a grain and if it gets crushed/mashed easily then it is be soft enough to be cooked or otherwise if it is dry and does not get mashed easily then sprinkle little water over it and mix well. i usually rinse the poha in a strainer or colander under running water and don’t soak them in water. rinsing the poha grains softens them easily.

you can also add boiled peas or grated carrot when making this onion poha recipe. i have also added grated coconut in the poha but this is optional.

i make a lot of recipes with poha for breakfast or evening snacks but i never get time to take pictures. fewpoha recipes posted on the blog are:

Dear Dassana Ji, my wife ‘ordered me’, to make one cup of cold, wet, poha, without potatoes. (She hates potatoes…). Then she rolled over, and went back to sleep …… since it is a Sunday, and her only day of rest. But, it is minus 7 oC ouside, and dreary snow on the landscape, and my toes were getting frozen, so I decided to make your hot kanda kandey pohe’. I’m glad, I did, for the hot pohey felt good. If you will indulge me, I made a few modifications …. I used salted, pre-roasted peanuts, which I crushed coarsely, with a rolling pin. Also I put in a pinch of Aamti or sambhaar powder, ( I forget which – ) … for ‘good luck’ ….. I also used coconut oil and a dollop of coconut paste for the ‘salutations’ to some konkani gods, also I put a small pinch of urad dal and jeera for part of the tadka. This is out of habit. Also I forgot to add turmeric, so the yellow color was missing, but it is so dark, here until 10 am, that I did not even notice the lack of color. My wife liked it, nevertheless, so I am off the hook …. until tomorrow. Best Seasons wishes for the Christmas, Hannukkah, KrishnaJayanti, Buddhastami, and Eid. Keep up the good work, and a good sense of humour.

Welcome Vidwan. Seasons greetings to you and your wife also. Glad to read your sweet and humorous comment. Good to know the variations you did to kanda poha. I hope you will be blessed with more cooking skills and will make more people laugh with your humour.

Thank you for all wonderful recipes. I learnt many cooking dishes from your blog. Instructions are easy to follow and recipes are just WOWW. I have small doubt about thick poha. I made kanda poha using thick poha. It became crunchy instead of soft. I know I did not soak it properly. Can you please help me , how to soak thick poha!

thanks dipti. i don’t soak thick poha. i take them in a strainer or colander. then i rinse them twice or thrice in running water and gently swirl the poha flakes with hands while they are getting rinsed. this way they absorb the water and become soft but not mushy. keep them in the colander only as the excess water then drains off from it.

I came across your blog when I was looking for poha recipe. It turned out beautifully. Suffice to say I fell in love with your blog. I always turn to it for any recipe that I need. Thank you for doing such a wonderful job.

I made this today and it was fantastic! I didn’t have any curry leaves this time, but I’m definitely adding them next time, because it’s just not the same without them.

I’m Indian but was born and raised in the US. I was always intimidated by Indian cooking because of all the spices. I live far from home now and miss my mom’s Maharashtrian cooking. I’ve decided that I must learn to make her dishes myself!

Your recipe was so easy to follow, even for me! It turned out so delicious. I took a pic of it with a cup of chai and sent it to my mom. She was so proud 🙂

Hi Dasana, Your recipes and content of making them is so good that even any slight variation to it doesnt effect the end result.I am very much thankful to you for being a guide in as I have just started cooking.

I am from andhrapradesh. We call this dish as ” atukula pulihora”. But along with mustard seeds we also add chena dal and urad dal(small quantity).That’s the only difference.We call poha as “atukulu”. I am fan of this dish.

I always open your site when looking for a recipe, even ignoring the famous chef recipes..yours are more of a regular cooking genre 🙂 I have a question- while mixing salt, sugar and haldi to washed poha, will it be bad if the grains break and get mashed?

thanks bhagyashree. glad to know. the poha grains should not mash. so mix very gently with your hands. otherwise if the grains are mashed then poha will become mushy or lumpy and the grains won’t be separate.

swarnava, it is because there must be some water in the poha. you don’t need to rinse the poha thoroughly. just once or twice is enough and with light hands stirring. not the way we wash rice or dal. the poha has to be handled very gently while washing and then you have to drain the water very well. otherwise if there is some water it will become sticky and clumpy. rough handling of poha while washing will break it.

i have tried poha by adding some veggies like cabbage, capsicum &chukandar after cutting them into small pieces and frying them for just two monikers .it is even more tasty if served with little curd over it

this is aregular breakfast option these days for me.. though i make the maharashtrain style poha in white poha.. with brown i make it in south indian style wher ei add coconut… i have clicked pics yet to write the post properly..:)